Episode 58: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines’ launch was almost doomed to failure. Sandwiched in between Halo 2, Half Life 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and World of Warcraft (amongst others), the weird vampire first person rpg was left out in the cold, selling a mere 80,000 copies during its initial release. The poor sales and mixed critical reception spelled doom for Troika Games, and Bloodlines ended up being the last game the studio ever made.

But as time went on, more and more people continued to revisit the dark and seedy world of Bloodlines. It developed a cult following, garnering praise for its atmosphere, quests, characterisation and dialogue. Many considered it a masterpiece, deeply unappreciated and ignored by happenstance. It was considered endlessly re-playable, and every time it was mentioned online, someone would open up their library and reinstall it.

So is Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines a world worth visiting and spending time in? Or are its followers blinded by their love of the game to the point where they ignore its flaws?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How does Bloodlines use its characters as focal points for its storytelling? Can the characters of its world do enough heavy lifting to bring definition to this twisted take on early 2000s Los Angeles?
• How well implemented are the factions, and conflict between those factions? Is the player character ever really given an opportunity to go beyond a mere pawn, or is their fate sealed from the beginning?
• How enjoyable is it to actually play the video game and engage with the mechanics of Bloodlines? Is there a deep and interesting game underlying the storytelling, or is it just a flashy narrative holding everything together?

We answer these questions and many more on the 58th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines OST: Rik Schaffer

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If you play with the GOG version, the light install of the unofficial patch is already included.

If you play on the Steam version, make sure you download and install the unofficial patch after purchase. You will have the option to install either the light bux fix or the full restoration mod.

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Which was your favourite character in Bloodlines? Is the gameplay more sophisticated and varied than we experienced? Is it worth replaying the game for those insane Malkavian dialogue lines or to sneak around the sewers as a Nosferatu? Let us know what you think on our community discord server, and we’ll be delighted to argue with you about it!